Congratulations!
The following UTC Faculty and Staff have attracted $2,054,283 in external grant and contract awards:
Dr. David Aborn (Biology, Geology, and Environmental Science) has received two awards from the National Park Service: $50,616 for the project entitled, “Inventory of Birds to Inform Management at Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Battlefields,” and $85,401 for the project entitled, “Inventory of Breeding and Wintering Birds to Inform Management Decisions at Carl Sandburg National Historic Home.”
Dr. Belinda Lee (Center for Community Career Education) has received $374,217 from the US Department of Education for the project entitled, “University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Upward Bound Program.”
Dr. Kara Hamilton and Dr. Joel Harden (Health & Human Performance) have received $15,000 from Fast Break Athletics for the project entitled, “2027 Fast Break Phase III.”
Dr. Morgan Smith (Sociology, Anthropology, and Geography), in collaboration with Florida State University, received $21,377 from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management for the project entitled, “Reevaluating BOEM’s Guidelines for Identifying Submerged Pre-Contact Archaeological Sites in the Gulf of Mexico: an Extensive Geoarchaeological Approach.”
Charlie Mix and Nyssa Hunt (CAGDS) have received $10,000 from the Mainspring Conservation Trust for the project entitled, “Mainspring Conservation Trust – Conservation Priority Model Update.”
Dr. Deborah McAllister and Dr. Jennifer Lynberg (School of Education), in collaboration with Middle Tennessee State University, received $17,741 from the Library of Congress for the project entitled, “Exploring Science and Mathematics with Library of Congress Resources.”
Dr. Donald Reising and Dr. Joshua Tyler (Electrical Engineering), in collaboration with SRI International, received $40,000 from the US Office of the Director of National Intelligence for the project entitled, “2025 IARPA End-Gen-TA2.”
Dr. Amanda Hardin (School Psychology), in collaboration with the Tennessee Department of Education, requested and received $450,000 from the US Department of Education for the project entitled, “Project INSPIRE: Increasing School Psychologists in Under-Resourced Environments.”
Dr. Kumar Yelamarthi and Michael Roeser (CECS – Dean’s Office) have received $500,000 from the Appalachian Regional Commission for the project entitled, “Enhancing Workforce Development in Appalachia through Advanced Engineering Lab Equipment.”
Dr. Deborah McAllister, Dr. Jason Gordon, Dr. Jennifer Lynberg (School of Education), and Dr. Aniekan Ebiefung (Mathematics) have received $300,000 from the National Science Foundation for the project entitled, “Track 2: Graduate Yearlong Experience And Residency for Acquiring STEM Teaching Competencies (GradYEAR).”
Dr. Ziwei Ma (Mathematics) has received $189,931 from the National Science Foundation for the project entitled, “Collaborative Research: SCH: Rehabilitation Evaluation of Neurologic Motor Disorders using Wearable Sensors.”
Good Luck!
The following UTC faculty and staff members submitted proposals for the potential to generate over $2,168,565 in external funding, if awarded:
Dr. Jared Pienkos and Dr. Meredith Barbee (Chemistry) have requested $25,000 from the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation for the project entitled, “2026 Dreyfus Lectureship at UTC.”
Dr. Rahul Jayan (Mechanical Engineering) has requested $490,283 from the Los Alamos National Laboratory for the project entitled, “Development of softFQEq machine-learned interatomic potentials.”
Brett Fuchs, Sean O’Brien, Walker Anderson, Austin Holland, Preston Marlin, Jason Patty, and Matthew Holzmacher (Campus Law Enforcement), have requested $188,988 from the US Department of Justice for the project entitled, “UAS for Public Safety.”
Dr. Joshua Ammons (Economics) has requested $18,648 from the Institute for Humane Studies for the project entitled, “Free Society Grant for Undergraduate Programming.”
Nyssa Hunt (CAGDS), in collaboration with the Limestone Valley Resource Conservation and Development Council, has requested $5,419 from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation for the project entitled, “LVRC&D/ARSN Stream Prioritization Screening Tool.”
Sybil Baker, Dr. Justin Wymer (English), and Rebecca Brantley (Art), have requested $2,000 from the South Arts for the project entitled, “Poetry in Conversation: A Meacham Writer’s Workshop Feature.”
Dr. Abdel Karrar and Dr. Kumar Yelamarthi (Electrical Engineering) have requested $37,750 from the Tennessee Board of Architectural and Engineering Examiners for the project entitled, “2027 TBAEE Annual Grant – Engineering.”
Catherine Kendall and Jessica Etheredge (Interior Design) have requested $10,584 from the Tennessee Board of Architectural and Engineering Examiners for the project entitled, “2027 TBAEE – Interior Design.”
Dr. Gokhan Erdemir, Dr. Serkan Varol, Dr. Gazi Akgun, Dr. Erkan Kaplanoglu, and Dr. Ahad Nasab (Engineering Management and Technology), have requested $372,035 from the National Science Foundation for the project entitled, “REU Site: Human-Centered Urban Intelligence: Robotics and Data Analytics for Safe and Connected Mobility.”
Dr. Jejal Reddy Bathi, Dr. Venkateswara Kode (Civil and Chemical Engineering), Charlie Mix (CAGDS), and Dr. Lisa Piazza (Undergraduate Research and Creative Endeavor) have requested $99,200 from the National Science Foundation for the project entitled, “REU Site: Research Experience for Field Sampling, Analyzing and Database Development of Microplastics.”
Dr. Rick Mukherjee (Quantum Center) has requested $41,756 from the National Science Foundation for the project entitled, “QUantum Interconnect Link, Tennessee (QUILT X-Lab) A Foundry-Manufacturable Microwave-to-Optical Quantum Interconnect.”
Dr. Serkan Varol, Dr. Gokhan Erdemir, Dr. Gazi Akgun (Engineering Management and Technology), Dr. Navid Aghakhani (Data Analytics), and Dr. Vahid Rasouli Disfani (Electrical Engineering) have requested $371,902 from the National Science Foundation for the project entitled, “Research in Neurotechnology and Human-Centered Intelligent Systems.”
Dr. Yingfeng Wang (Computer Science and Engineering) has requested $505,000 from the National Science Foundation for the project entitled, “Collaborative Research: III: RUI: Video-Contextual Reliability Warning System for AI-Assisted Breast Ultrasound Diagnosis.”